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Wycombe Wanderers 0
Portsmouth 0
Saturday 31st January 2015
Football League Two

Wycombe v Portsmouth programme cover showing Fred Onyedinma Wanderers slipped to 3rd place in 'League Two' after having to settle for 0-0 draw with out of form Portsmouth at Adams Park.

With news in the week that Paul Hayes had been ruled out for a further month with his calf injury, Gareth Ainsworth made two changes to the starting XI that had played out a goalless draw at Mansfield seven days previous - Hogan Ephraim (his first start since November) and Matt McClure coming in for Matt Bloomfield and Aaron Holloway. Peter Murphy continued in the Wanderers midfield dispite sporting a bandage around his head following a collision in the Mansfield game.

Helped by a tail wind, it was the visitors, kicking towards their own fans in the first half, that dominated the opening 45 minutes. New signing Matt Tubbs (playing for the third time against Wycombe this season, having previously been on loan at Wimbledon from Bournemouth) looked particularly dangerous but Wanderers defence held firm again to play out what would be their fifth clean sheet in the past six games. Pompey then nearly fell to a sucker punch moments before the break when a Joe Jacobson effort crashed against the Valley End crossbar before bouncing to safety.

Sam Wood about to take a clattering from Portsmouth's Josh Passley. Marcus Bean is the Wycombe player looking onThe second half was an improvement from Wanderers point of view. The introduction of Holloway for Ehpraim on 66 minutes also helped Wycombe end the game the side who looked more likely to steal the points - Alfie Mawson connecting with a Jacobson corner from the right on 85 minutes, only to see his goalbound effort deflected just wide of the target by an outstretched leg.

Wycombe's unbeaten run is now 11 games but it will be quite obvious to the management team that goal scoring has become a problem, while the loss of Josh Scowen in midfield is perhaps more significant as Ainsworth continues to experiment with what he believes is the best combination.

New leaders of 'League Two' are Shrewsbury (54 points) who won 1-0 at Newport. 2nd placed are Burton (54 points) who beat Bury 1-0 at home. Wycombe are on 53 points, three points clear of 4th placed Luton who beat Wanderers next opponents Cambridge United 3-2 at home having led 3-0 with just over 20 minutes remaining. Wycombe will travel to Cambridge on Saturday 7th February, just four days after The U's FA Cup Fourth Round replay with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Full-time - Wycombe 0 Portsmouth 0
Wycombe: Ingram, Jombati, Jacobson, Mawson, Pierre, Bean, Murphy, Wood, Onyedinma, Ephraim (sub 67 Holloway), McClure (sub 79 Craig) - subs not used: Richardson, Rowe, Bloomfield, Senior, Kretzschmar
Scorers: none
Bookings: Holloway (83)
Portsmouth: Jones, Passley, Butler, Whatmough, Chorley (sub 88 Devera), Robinson, Dunne, Wallace, Hollands, Taylor, Tubbs (sub 90 Ertl) - subs not used: Poke, Chaplin, Atangana, Barcham, Westcarr
Scorers: none
Bookings: Passley (52), Whatmough (82), Jones (86), Dunne (90+1)
Referee: Mr Andy D’Urso Attendance: 5,829 (1,550 away)

Post match reaction:
Gareth Ainsworth Commenting after the game, Gareth Ainsworth said, "I thought it was a total game of two halves. Portsmouth had all the play first half, Wycombe had all the play second half. We hit the crossbar, they had a one-on-one – it’s probably a fair result for both teams. The domination of both halves by both teams, if it had been 3-3 you’d have said that was a fair result. I’d have been relieved at half time but full time, no definitely not relieved. I’m disappointed we didn’t make our pressure count second half." The Wycombe Manager went on to comment on how the weather conditions had affected the game, saying: "I honestly thought the wind played a big part, especially the kicks. We wanted to play out a bit but Portsmouth were pressing us high and making us kick long. They had done their homework. It’s games like this where you’ve got to be clever and come up with something else." Ainsworth concluded "I’m more happy with the clean sheet, I just want to find that goalscoring touch again. We want to start hitting the back of the net and we were close today. Paul Hayes’ injury was a big miss for us. We created some good chances, it’s just that final touch that eluded us today. We did seem like we were going to get something towards the end. The crowd felt it, I smelt it a little bit, but it wasn’t to be. They are down. They feel like, all season, with the standards we’ve set – the pedestal we’ve put ourselves on – we want to keep that going. But I’ve told them don’t judge that. There’s no benchmark. You play as well as you can, and at the end of the season the table won’t lie."

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